TAUNY to host sugaring off party March 16 in Canton

Gretchen Koehler teaches a traditional line dance at a TAUNY Sugaring-Off Party.

CANTON -- TAUNY, 53 Main St., will host a free party to celebrate the arrival of sugaring time in the North Country Saturday, March 16 from 1 to 3 p.m.

The party will celebrate maple-sugaring season, as French-Canadian families would have done a century ago.

The festivities will kick off with a reading of the children's book “The Sugaring Off Party” by Jonathan London, which describes a French-Canadian family's traditional sugaring-off celebration, including dancing, feasting and syrup on snow.

Fiddlers Gretchen Koehler and Joel Foisy will recreate a typical Quebecois house party with traditional French folk dances and songs, along with the secret to playing the spoons.

The music and dancing will be followed by wax-on-snow prepared by local maple producer Art Hurlbut.

Participants under age six will learn basic dance steps and create a craft project.